Things felt very different this year. The 12th Man really came into its own over the past couple of years, and the enthusiasm for the team was at an all time high. How high?

For the welcome home parade (really more of a processional) for the Superbowl 48 Champions, 700,000 people lined 4th AVE through downtown Seattle.

700,000.

That's astounding. There are only 630,000 people that live in Seattle.

And it was cold. Not in the way that a Seattle winter is cold and dreary. It was legitimately cold (sure, it's no Polar Vortex, but still...). And people waited for hours. Some camped out the the night before. And did I mention it was cold?

This was all to get a glimpse of the team as the rode down the street in Ride-The-Duck vehicles and Humvees. The Seattle PI has more details here.

It was only a short walk so I headed down there to be part of the experience. Here are some photos I captured from my little scrap of asphalt at 4th AVE and University.

The parade got off to a late start, but this fan made productive use of her time.

Children and some adults scaled trees for a chance to see the team and would occasionally be chased down by the authorities.

This gentleman had some struggled to shimmy up the tree, but the crowd noticed and began cheering, "Climb! Climb! Climb!" He made it. I'm not sure how he got down.

Many members of the crowd got annoyed when the first vehicles came through. There were tour buses with tinted windows, and, of course you couldn't see inside. Apparently that was front office staff, though, rather than players. And even they didn't like the buses as the climbed out the emergency exits to ride on the roofs of the buses through the streets.

Marshawn Lynch rode the hood of the Seagals Duck and through Skittles at the crowd.

The rest of the team followed in other vehicles.

And if you look really carefully through hundreds of arms and between all the other cameras, you can even catch a glimpse of the Heisman Trophy.

It was pretty amazing to be surrounded by that much positive energy. The parade ended with not fights and no arrests. That's 700,000 well behaved, very cold, well-caffeinated, high energy fans who caused no major trouble.